The Sodden Joker
by SanguineStohelit
Summary: Years after the origami killer, Jayden has another case on his hands. He has to solve the case of the Sodden Joker, but this time he has a detective from England that will be helping him do more than solve the case.
1. Chapter 1

The lights of the runway loomed ahead, red and white glaring through the dark misty evening. Lelle rubbed some life back into her legs and wiped the sleep from her eyes. As the sleep fell away from her she felt the knot of apprehension in her stomach that her blissful sleep state had let her forget. She should have never volunteered for this exchange, she had just been excited. America had always seemed like a place of excitement, away from the humdrum of home, and she suspected the same for most Britons. She took a swig of her now warm water and tried to think pragmatically about this trip. She would be working alongside the FBI, and (although most of her information had been gleaned from films) had held more prospects for exciting and action filled days than her boring little CID office back in England. Lelle wondered how she would appear to them at FBI. She had an awful inkling that she would seem rather uninitiated to the federal agents, like a little girl from the sticks visiting the big city for the fist time. Just like the films. She groaned and took a deep breath as the plane dipped in to land.

******

He ran in a blind panic, babbling incoherently, more animal now than man, terror governing every move. Sweat ran from his brow and dribbled down his nose, mingling with the rain that falling fast and hard. His chest rose and fell deeply as he sucked in huge buckets of air. Rain soaked through to his skin, the broken and torn soles of his shoes causing him to tumble to the ground. He looked back up the alleyway through the curtain of rain. The dark figure that was chasing him silhouetted against the light of the alley mouth. He raised a feeble hand, trembling trying to hold off the figure advancing on him. The figure knelt down beside him and swiftly grabbed his throat.

"Eat" , the silken voice commanded.

******

Lelle awoke to her alarm sounding. She swiftly swung her legs out of the bed and tried not to think to hard about the day ahead. Just take it easy and do one thing at a time she told her beating heart and turning stomach. She tied back her long black hair into a sensible bun and climbed into her pinstripe suit. She smoothed the material down in the mirror, and strode out of the hotel with more confidence than she felt.

The offices of the FBI building were intimidating, and the sheer amount of glass and black leather that was on display in the lobby was in stark contrast to the shabby wood of her office in England. After she passed all her security checks the security guard waved her past

"Tenth floor, room 9" , and he smiled at her and wished her a nice day. She got out at the tenth floor and after a few people pointing her in the right direction set off toward room 9. As she approached she could hear arguing. She held back to hear what the voices were saying.

"...that's all very good sir but I just can't have someone hampering my investigation, I have always worked alone and have got good results."

"This is more than just an investigation, this is a collaborative effort between two countries to share investigative techniques and may lead to increased intelligence sharing between our nations in the future."

"With all due respect sir, there is a killer out there and you want me to play babysitter so our political standing is better?"

The second voice sighed, "Look, Jayden, i'm sure this Detective Hillier will be more helpful than you think."

Lelle bristled at the sound of her name. Damn right she would be helpful! Who did this Jayden character think he was? Not waiting to hear a reply she knocked at the door and coughed loudly.

"Come in, ah detective Hillier we were just talking about you ", the older man in a grey smartly pressed suit smiled at her. Lelle smiled wanly back, you sure were she thought. He had thinning grey hair and sad thoughtful eyes. "I trust your journey was pleasant?"

"Oh yes, and a pleasure it is to be here sir ." She smiled smoothly.

"Indeed. Well as you already know i'm the Special Agent in Charge - Murray" , he held out a strong hand and shook hers. "And this is agent Norman Jayden, he will be taking you under his wing while you are visiting."

Lelle turned on her heel smile affixed to her face. Jayden untempled his fingers and gave her a wan smile back and held out his hand. Jayden was in his early thirties she guessed, a smattering of stubble across a pale face. He wore a dark grey suit and held a nonchalant air. Lelle swallowed, Jayden had the most intense pale blue eyes she had ever seen. She was sure those eyes were staring right into her, assessing everything about her, putting little black marks next to the bits they didn't like. She remembered herself and held out her hand in return.

"DC Lelle Hillier, i'm looking forward to working with you ."


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Office space

Jayden began walking quickly towards his office, his new recruit in tow. He wasn't sure how this was going to work, he had always worked alone. The detective he was going to be working with had such an air of naivety, she wouldn't last five minutes. He glanced backwards towards her as she struggled to keep up with his long strides. She just looked so, so. Delicate. Like she hadn't been allowed outside before. She had very pale skin and black hair that was haphazardly tied back into a bun. Her tall thin frame was more suited to ballet dancing than asking questions on the streets in the pouring rain. Not even five minutes he told himself.

Lelle struggled to keep up with the striding figure in front of her. Numerous times she bumped into people trying to keep up, stopping to say sorry to some quite annoyed, busy faces as she fought to keep Jayden in her sights. I suppose he thinks this is funny? She furrowed her brows. Good looking or not, this guy was getting on her nerves. Eventually she reached the office and slipped inside behind Jayden.

"OK, you can have that spare desk over there, i'll have someone bring up one of our computers to you so you can start pulling some files."

Lelle looked around the office. It was fairly spacious but had no windows, no plants and was quite cold and clinical looking. She thought longingly of her desk back in the UK the multitudes of photos of family and friends pinned up all over it, and the little bonsai tree that had been a gift when she had moved into CID. Her gaze travelled over his desk. There was no computer there. There wasn't anything there. The desk was completely barren. She looked up questioningly at Jayden.

"Do you not need a computer?"

One of the corners of Jayden's mouth raised in a half smile. "I must say I haven't used a computer for for work purposes in some time. I'll explain further after we have set you up. You can leave you bag here and we will go and see I.T about that computer."

Lelle put her bag down on her soon to be office chair and followed him out the room. He was slower this time and she could keep up more easily. She wondered what he had meant by not needing a computer. Surely he couldn't work with just paper files, and he didn't seem the type that would be put off by technology. She almost walked into the back of him as she was deep in thought, the I.T reception ahead of them. An impossibly beautiful plastic looking receptionist beamed at Jayden, ignoring her presence completely.

"Norman! You don't come visit me as often as you should you know!" , the blonde receptionist purred clicking her long fake nails on the counter. Jayden smiled back at her while Lelle waited patiently next to him.

"Hey there Candy, you get the memo? ".

"Sure did sweet thing, gimme a sec I'll just bring it up on the screen." Her long nails clacked across the keyboard. "Here we go..... oh." . Candy's immaculate face creased into a frown, "i've just received another memo overriding the older one. Says you gotta go back up and talk to Murray. Says don't worry about the computer, just go see him straight away." She looked over at Jayden with her impossibly long eyelashes. "That mean old Murray taking you away from me again?" Jayden cocked her his half smile.

"All part of the job i'm afraid, I'll see you soon Candy."

"Promises, promises ", Candy smiled coyly as Jayden walked away from the counter. Lelle looked back over to the receptionist who blew her a kiss and winked. Lelle quickly looked back away from the counter with blood rushing to her face. She had never met anyone like that before, only seen them in films. Well, this was America she told herself, you wanted something out of the ordinary. She followed Jayden back up to Murray's office. He knocked and they were told to enter. Murray was on the phone and waved at them to take a seat.

"Sure, sure." , said Murray into the mouthpiece. "They have just arrived now. Yes. Yes. Thank you." Murray put down the phone and looked up to the pair sat in front of him. Jayden his usual casual self, templing his fingers and the English detective, Hillier, sat on her chair as though it were burning her.

"That was the Chief of Police over at Central. I'm afraid the killer has struck again, and this time the press have got hold of it. Just like the last time we've got to send an agent over to their patch to get this mess sorted."

Lelle looked over at Jayden, she was sure he was not as relaxed as before, leaning forward in his chair ever so slightly. And was this the case she was to be working with him on? She heard them mention a killer when she had first arrived and her mind raced with possibilities.

"I'm afraid that they have asked for you to return there after the success of last time. Unfortunately even I have to take orders from someone and it looks like they have bowed to press pressure. And Jayden - you will once again be working with Lieutenant Blake. I am sorry." Murray looked genuinely sorry over to Jayden who had closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He snapped his eyes back open and stood up.

"Well I guess i'd better pack." Jayden said waving his hand in irritation. He turned to Lelle. "You can use my office while i'm away."

Lelle was just about to protest when Murray cut in.

"Lelle will be joining you on this one Jayden. The more minds the better eh?" Jayden hesitated for one second, but recovered his composure quickly.

"Of course. Well we had better both get packing then ", and with that he headed out the door. Lelle started to follow but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back up to Murray who dropped his hand back to his side.

"Take care of him Lelle. I haven't worked decades in this game without picking up on the qualities of different people." He smiled sadly. "I'm sure you will surprise all of us." With that he gently led the thoughtful Lelle back to the door and closed it softly behind her.

Lelle wanted to wonder what Murray had meant but had no time. She walked back to Jayden's office where her bag was left thrown on the chair. He was tucking something into his jacket pocket.

"Looks like the car will arrive to pick me up at 6, and you at 6:30. I suggest you take the rest of the day to gather your things and I will see you then."

"Um, sure." said Lelle. "Could I possibly look at the file of this current case back at the hotel? I'd like to get a head start."

"Uh, sure. One moment." He disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a paper folder which he handed to her. "I'll see you at 6:30" .

"Thanks. See you then", and with that Lelle made here way out the building.

Jayden pinched the bridge of his nose. First Lelle. Now Blake. Blake was a psychopathic asshole who was positively a liability. The last case of the Origami killer had almost been compromised because of Blake's ham fisted approach to investigation. Despite this he was more worried about the presence of Lelle. She was going to be around. All the time. With him. She too could prove to be a liability but more importantly she could find out about him. He would have to be careful. He took the ARI out of his pocket, placed the glasses over his eyes, pulled on the glove and started pulling files.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

A Damp Trip.

Lelle arched her back to relieve some of the tension. She must have been sat hunched over these notes for hours. The papers were spread in front of her covering the small desk that was in her hotel room. She had never seen anything like this before. The killer in this case was clearly nothing like the occasional murder that she had dealt with back home. This person had only killed the homeless so far, and it was thought that all the targets were going to be male until the fifth victim had been an elderly female with mental health problems. He had seven victims in total, all in the central area, all died from a stab wound straight to the heart. She leaned back in the chair and chewed a nail thoughtfully while the rain played out a rhythm on the window pane. She had always enjoyed the rain, for one it usually made the criminals stay indoors but she also loved how clean she felt stood in the rain, breathing in it's fresh aroma. She was deep in thought as the rain slowly ran in rivulets reflecting the nearby lights of an all night bar. Her gaze ran over the clock on the wall. Shit! It was already 6:15 and she needed to get her things together. She hastily scooped up her belongings and put them into her bag and put all the papers back into the file. She splashed cold water onto her face and went to wait in the lobby.

Jayden sat in the back of the black car and watched the rain beat it's pulse onto the car windows. How he hated the rain. Ever since that damn Origami killer case he had hated it. Even now he felt like the rain was putting him on a timer. Nothing would ever make him enjoy the rain again. He pulled his mind back to the case at hand. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out the ARI glasses and glove. Immediately his surroundings transformed into a wooded glade, sunlight peeking through the leaves yet never warming his skin. With a quick flick of his hand a digital filing cabinet drawer appeared from the ether and he pulled out the translucent file of the homeless killer. The killer probably killed homeless people because they would not be missed. Serial killers also tended towards killing within their own ethnicity and within one gender. Maybe the fifth victim had been a mistake? Victims two and six were black males however which didn't fit the bill. This would imply that the killer was more focused on the act or ritual of killing rather than the targeting of any particular section of society or persons. Satisfied that this was all he could do for the present time he removed the glasses from his eyes and the wooded glade was once again the interior of the car. He frowned at the rain gathering on the glass as the car sped on.

Lelle stood up as Jayden walked into the lobby of her hotel. They exchanged a fairly stiff greeting and although Lelle protested mildly he carried her case to the car. They ducked into the car and it pulled away. After a brief conversation about the hotel they would be staying at they both stared out their respective windows. To amuse herself Lelle played a game of naught's and crosses on the condensation on the window. Then she wrote her name. As an after thought she put stars round it. She was about to add a couple of hearts when she noticed Jayden looking at her with a slightly quizzical expression. Lelle blushed and rubbed out the doodles and they both went back to staring out their windows.

Lelle woke with a start and realised that she had fallen asleep on the two hour car ride, face pressed up against the window. She cringed internally, what if Jayden had seen her with her face squashed against the window asleep? It was so unprofessional compared to the smooth FBI agent. She glanced around furtively. He was still staring out the window. Good, she smiled inwardly that she had gotten away with it. The car slowed to a halt outside the tallest building she thought she had ever seen, the grey expanse looming above her a she got her suitcase out the boot of the car. Lelle and Jayden crossed the large expensive lobby to the bored looking receptionist. After punching their details into the computer in front of her she gave them their keys and pointed them towards the elevator. They got out onto the fifteenth floor and unlocked their adjoining rooms. They bid each other good night and went into their rooms. Lelle threw her case onto the bed and peered out the window. Wow. This was high. The tallest floor she had ever been to had been the thirteenth floor and she had not relished that at the time. It was back when she was a beat officer and a report had come in of the sound of a gunshot at a block of flats in the early hours of the morning. She had been the first on scene and had been single crewed. She buzzed the flat that had reported the noise and spoken to the informant that just said that it had come from the back. Lelle had walked to the back of the flats to find the body of a girl lying in a pool of her own blood. She had not long come out of training and after radioing for an ambulance she tried to take a pulse. There had been nothing. Desperately remembering her training she had tried to give her CPR. She had recoiled with shock after her first compression, the girl had just felt like liquid on the inside, organs being pushed aside. She looked up to see a window open high above her, lace curtains streaming out. The girl had jumped from the thirteenth floor. The sound of the gunshot the lady had heard was of the girl hitting the concrete below. Lelle shuddered at the memory and backed away from the window. A shower, that was what she wanted. She undressed swiftly leaving bits of clothing all over the tidy room and headed towards the bathroom.

Jayden lay face down on the bed. He was getting the shakes bad. The last couple of years it had been getting better, and he had gone the last year without using it at all. He kept some with him at all times, just in case. He held the blue vial tightly in his hand as his body racked with indecision. This damn case had brought it all on again. He was sweating despite the coolness of the room. The edges of the room were ill defined as objects swam in and out of focus. He got up and using the wall to guide himself along found the bathroom. His groping hands found the sink and he splashed the cold water onto his face. He held his hands under the cold tap until he could no longer feel his fingers and then pressed them against his face, warming them again. His ringing phone snapped him back to reality.

Lelle was just getting all the freebies from the bathroom and was planning to make a huge bubbly mess when there was a knock at the door. Frowning slightly Lelle grabbed the bathrobe and tied it round her and answered the door. Jayden was stood there with his hands in his pockets. He looked slightly shocked that she had appeared at the door wearing just a thin cotton bathrobe. She mentally scolded herself but tried to put on as professional an air as she could muster in the circumstances. "Jayden, hello, what can I do for you?"

"You'll need to get dressed, we've got another body ".


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Enter the Joker

Lelle stepped out the black hire car onto the misty street. The rain had stopped for the moment but the angry black clouds threatened to open at any time. She heard Jayden close the car door and walked towards the police cordon. Her heart beat nervously as it always did when she knew she was entering a murder scene. She followed close behind Jayden and he walked up to the officer on guard.

"Agent Norman Jayden, F.B.I, and this is DC Hillier from England" , said Jayden holding up his badge.

"Yes sir, we have been expecting you ", the guard lifted up the cordon for them and they ducked into the alleyway.

"Ah shit" , Jayden said just under his breath to himself. Lelle looked up to see a tall man with tanned skin and dark hair with a goatee stride towards them.

"Well well, if it isn't my favourite FBI agent. Here to try and make a mockery of REAL policing again Norman?", the man with the goatee sneered at Jayden.

"Blake, you do a pretty good job of making a mockery of policing all on your own." said Jayden folding his arms. Blake's sneer turned to an angry snarl and he pushed his finger in Jayden's face.

"Don't you fucking get in the way of this one Jayden, we already got the guy who did it. He's sitting in the cells right now, and we did that by actually being out here on the streets, not sitting at a fucking desk."

"Sure Blake, just as Mars was guilty huh? Or have you already forgotten about that?"

"Fuck off Jayden, we've got our guy, end of story."

"We'll see about that Blake."

Blake barged past Jayden and the open mouthed Lelle out of the alleyway and round the corner.

"Well now you've met the charming Lieutenant Blake" , said Jayden sighing.

"He's.... Well he's...." Words failed Lelle as she struggled the think of the right one. "Well a dick basically."

Jayden smiled the first genuine smile she thought she had ever seen him smile, he let out a half laugh. "Couldn't have put it better myself". His smile faded quickly as he surveyed the crime scene. "Well. I guess we should get back to why we were here". Lelle nodded. They approached the tent covered body. Lelle drew back the fabric entrance and knelt down to get a closer look. Jayden was putting on a glove and...dark glasses? In this gloom? He knelt down next to her.

"I'll check the body first if you want to try the other lines of enquiry" , said Jayden.

"Er, sure." Said Lelle as she stood up and went over to the officer with the scene log.

Now that Lelle was gone Jayden felt like he could get down to work. The body lay curled in a foetal position, it's back towards Jayden.

"ARI, comment, the victim is white, male and is 62 years old." The interface on the ARI glasses ran the male through the database.  
"Name is Gregory Jackson, no fixed abode. Another homeless guy. There is some discolouration to the tissue round the neck, heavy bruising. Victim is likely to have asphyxiated. There are no prints around the wound on the neck, although finger marks are present. Killer probably used gloves. He knows not to leave genetic evidence. This isn't a impassioned killing, the killer prepares for the kill some time before the event." Jayden ran his eyes to the other end of the body. "ARI comment, there is a large amount of mud over the trousers and shoes. The mud is the same of that in the alleyway. The splash marks indicate that he was running just before he was killed." Jayden stood up and looked up and down the alleyway. There are so many footprints here from all the officers that Blake lets crawl over the scene. He scanned them to see if he could find anything. Nothing. Jayden cursed. Fucking Blake. He pulled the glasses from his eyes and looked about for Lelle. She was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled he walked over to the officer with the scene log.

"Excuse me, have you seen DC Hillier?"

"Sure, she asked me if there were any witnesses."

"And what did you say?" asked Jayden remaining patient.

"The only witness we got is an mentally disabled autistic guy, and we can't get anything out of him other than 'beep'".

******

Lelle knocked on the door of the house the scene officer had told her about. A tired looking older woman answered the door, lines of age around her eyes.

"Yes?" said the woman.

"Detective Hillier. Would it be possible to talk to Bobby at all?"

"Some guy called Blake already tried that, I was there. Didn't get anything out of him. Bobby is heavily autistic you know." The woman sighed. "He does talk sometimes, but he gets...upset easily. I don't think it will be any good. That Blake guy made him really quite nervous."

"Could I just have a moment with him at all? I won't be long I promise."

The older woman looked at her for a moment then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, but please, don't upset him."

The woman lead her through a hallway where the wallpaper was peeling with a strong smell of damp. They arrived at a room where a young man with dark brown hair and big brown eyes was sat at the edge of his bed, tapping the windowsill repeatedly with his hand.

"Beep."

"He does that when he's apprehensive," smiled the woman sadly. "On bad days it's all we can get out of him, his doctor says it's a sort of nervous compulsion."

Lelle knelt down next to Bobby and stared out the window with him. It overlooked the alleyway and Lelle could see several officers going about their business. "Hello Bobby."

Bobby turned his big eyes on her and still tapping the window and said "Beep".

Lelle smiled at him. She lightly pressed his nose and said "beep."

Bobby smiled widely. It would appear that they had an understanding. They looked out the window together for a while longer. It started to drizzle with rain. After a few minutes Bobby opened his mouth to speak. "Green."

"What was green Bobby?" asked Lelle.

"I like green", replied Bobby.

"Green is a good colour yes. Where did you see green Bobby?"

"Didn't like green with red, lots of red."

"Where was that Bobby? What did you see?"

Bobby didn't answer. He tapped the windowsill and watched the rain.

Lelle stood up. "Thank you for your time Bobby. It was nice to have met you." She thanked the woman and left just as Jayden was about to knock on the door.

"You've been gone quite a while. Any luck?" asked Jayden.

"Nothing really." Said Lelle sighing. She had hoped to make a valuable contribution rather than look like she was just here for a field trip.

******

They reached the scene again and Jayden started making towards the exit.

"Er, Jayden, is it alright if I examine the body?" said Lelle.

"Sure, i've got all the evidence I can get from it, but go ahead" .

Lelle went back over the tent and drew aside the covering. The body was still curled in the foetal position with its back to her. She noted the bruising on the neck, the mud splatters. Poor guy. She wondered what he looked like. She leaned in a little more to get a look at his face. The eyes were closed, as if he were resting. She felt a pang of sadness. His wrinkled skin was covered in age old grime and his downturn to the mouth looked as though the years had been hard on him. She looked closer at his mouth. There were little white flecks. Probably nothing she thought, but better check.

"Jayden..." she called.

"Yeah?"

"Could you take a look at this please?"

"Sure" . Jayden walked over to her and knelt down and stuck his head into the tent next to hers.

"Just there, on his lips" .

Pulling out his glasses again he looked at he males mouth. "Hmm. ARI comment, there are white flecks on the victims mouth. Analysis comes back as paper with traces of ink. Victim in all likelyhood ingested something paperlike before being strangled."

Jayden called over one the scene officers.

"Do you have gloves and a torch?" asked Jayden.

"Yes sir." said the guard.

"Can you open the victims mouth and shine the torch down there?" .

"Yes sir" he said as he pulled on his rubber gloves. He pried open the jaws of the victim and shone his torch down there. "There's something white and green down the back of this guys throat, i'm going to need some tweezers or something!" he called from inside the tent.

Tweezers were brought to the officer and he reached down the back of the victims throat while Lelle and Jayden waited nearby. The officer emerged from the tent with what looked like a white and green crumpled piece of paper. He brought it over to Lelle and Jayden and unfolded it in front of them.

In his hand lay a Joker Card.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the reviews! I have changed the last few chapters a little, the bit with the red hoods did need revising (odd in a way beacuse that did actually happen!) Have changed it to something else that has genuinely happened! - thanks for the recommendations, they are always helpful! :)

* * *

Ch 5

Confession

"I want everybody that was murdered attached to this case examined. Look down the throat", said Jayden emphatically, hands leaning on the back of a chair. "I need to know if this is a one off." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "or, as I suspect, something that we really, really need to know about."

The officers in the room dispersed, leaving Jayden and Lelle in the meeting room. Jayden straightened from his leaning position.

"Well done detective, I'm starting to see why they sent you", said Jayden cocking his half smile at Lelle.

Lelle mentally punched the air. Vindication! Her face remained impassive however as she spoke. "Thank you Jayden, I have to say though, it was a bit of a fluke".

"Most detective work is a fluke to be perfectly honest. If we didn't have here-say and conjecture I'd never get anything done."

"And those glasses? What do they do? I gather they are for something other than show?"

Jayden nodded, "I'm sorry, what with one thing after another I haven't introduced you to what is possibly the most important asset to field agents out here. This is one of the first to make it out the lab." He pulled the glasses from his jacket pocket. "This is ARI, short for Added Reality Interface. I'm one of the lucky few to get my hands on one. This is the reason", he held the glasses in front of him, "why I don't need a computer. Would you like to see?"

Lelle nodded emphatically. Jayden started towards her across the office when the door opened with a bang. Both Lelle and Jayden turned round to Blake standing in the door frame, the all too familiar sneer across his face. Jayden's eyes narrowed and Lelle could see that he had gone from relaxed to tense in a fraction of a second. There was a history with these two that she could only guess at.

"We just got a written confession from the guy we lifted from the murder scene. Looks like you get to pack up all that shit of yours and ship out Jayden, because you aint needed any more.! Said Blake smugly, leaning on the door frame.

Jayden folded his arms. "And how many bruises does he have Blake, to go along with that confession?"

Blake remained unusually calm. "Never touched him. In fact I didn't even do the interview. So no going crying to Captain Perry this time Jayden." He smirked at Jayden's clear annoyance.

"Don't think I'm just going to let this go Blake, there is going to be something wrong with that confession, I can guarantee it."

Still smiling Blake turned and started to walk away while Jayden clenched and unclenched his fists. Lelle looked over to him questioningly.

"Stay here, I'm going to have a look at this guy myself." said Jayden, stalking out the office.

"Sure....Hey wait, no I'm coming!" said Lelle jogging out the office to keep up with Jayden. He appeared not to hear her as he walked with barely contained anger through the large open office towards the interview rooms. They walked into the interview room where through the one way glass they saw an older man in cuffs sitting on the hard plastic chair. He was in a brown duffel coat and his unshaven face was covered in grime and dirt was encrusted under his fingernails. Lelle thought he slept rough from his appearance. Lelle picked up the paper file that was on the desk in front of her.

"William Gardener. Age, 63. Occupation: none. Last time this guy was seen was 10 years ago when he worked as a manager for a restaurant. Doctors notes from this time indicate that he started having episodes where he didn't know who he was and couldn't remember who his family were. These got progressively worse. Then he just disappeared."

"I need to get in there and talk to him." said Jayden and disappeared out the door. Lelle leaned on the desk that held all the recording equipment and looked through the one way glass. She saw Jayden enter the room and sit opposite William.

"William, I'm Agent Norman Jayden, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer as truthfully as you can okay?"

William turned his rheumy eyes on Jayden and nodded.

"We have a confession from you saying that you killed eight men and women. Is this correct?"

William nodded again keeping his eyes on Jayden. "Yes sir." He said in a cracked voice. Jayden looked back at William, his pale eyes weighing, calculating.

"William, when did you last murder anyone?"

"Last night, in the rain. Lots of rain." said William slowly.

Jayden paused and flicked a glance towards Lelle who was watching intently from behind the glass. "So you were there last night in the park?"

"Yes sir, killed them in the park." said William.

Jayden leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "And did you kill the children last night as well?"

"Sir, yes sir", mumbled William.

"I see." said Jayden standing. "Someone will be in to see to you soon William."

William looked up at him and smiled, showing his black and missing teeth. "Thank you sir."

Jayden entered the recording room where Lelle was watching.

"That has got to prove it!" said Lelle. "That guy would have admitted to the great train robbery if given half the chance!"

"Somehow I don't think that is going to be enough to free him, buts it's enough to keep the case alive." Jayden ran a hand through his hair. "I need a coffee. You?"

"Hell yes", said Lelle.

They walked over to the coffee machine in the canteen, everything else was shut due to the time of night. Or morning. When was it she had last slept? The coffee was bland but hot and they drank as they walked back to the office. Lelle sank into the battered leather sofa in the corner warming her hands on the styrofoam cup.

"I need to smooth this out with the Captain, I won't be long." said Jayden disappearing out the door.

"Sure sure." said Lelle waving a tired hand in his direction. She put her cup down on the side, kicked off her shoes and curled he legs under her. Within moments she was asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Breakfast

Consciousness grabbed hold of Lelle and pulled her awake. The noise of the people arriving for their day shift was clear just beyond the door of the small office that had been granted to her and Jayden. Her mind immediately swam with the thoughts of the night before. The results should be back from the mortuary lab soon. With some effort she opened her eyes and sat up from the cramped position she had adopted on the battered sofa. A grey jacket that had been covering her slid to her knees. Lelle looked down at the jacket. This was Jayden's jacket. He must have put it over her when she was sleeping. She blinked at the crumpled garment for a few moments. Jayden must have put it over her while she was sleeping. A tingle ran down her spine and she smiled inwardly. Even if he hadn't wanted her on the case he still cared about her well-being at least a little. A huge yawn broke her thoughts and she covered her mouth with back of her hand. Stretching she stood up and hung the jacket up on the coat hook by the door. The door opened slowly and quietly like the person opening it was afraid they would wake someone up. Jayden's head poked through the door.

"Morning", said Lelle stifling another yawn.

"Ah, you're awake. That's good."

"Is it?" asked Lelle.

"Yes, for two reasons. The first is that Captain Perry, although being pissed at the fact he was woken up by first a phone call from me and then from Murray has granted that the case remain open."

"That's excellent news!" exclaimed Lelle, "er, what is the second thing?"

"That the results from the mortuary are due in an hour which gives us enough time to grab breakfast. I don't know about you but I'm hungry as hell."

"That is also excellent news, I'll get my coat", said Lelle reaching towards her bag. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh and your jacket is hung up by the door. Thanks, by the way."

Jayden shifted his gaze. "No problem. Lets get going shall we? Don't want to be late for those results."

The diner was just across from the station and the interior was all red leather booths with gingham table cloths. Lelle stared open mouthed at the sheer variety that was available to her. Jayden ordered his own breakfast and sat looking out the window. Looked like another day of rain was ahead of them by the darkness of the clouds coming towards them. This case was getting more and more intricate. He needed to know if this card was down all the victims throats. God, how he hated waiting. He tapped his fingers on the table, his mind racing, thoughts veering wildly down one path then the next. He only vaguely heard Lelle in the background talking to the waitress - "What on earth is a grit?"  
The tempo of his fingers tapping on the table increased and his breathing became deeper. Oh Christ not now, he thought. He shoved his hands under the table as Lelle slid into the booth seat opposite him.

"Ordered grits, apparently, you haven't lived until you've had grits so says the waitress", said Lelle chuckling to herself. "Sounds like something you'd put on a road not a plate but I don't want to be accused of not being adventurous". She stopped and looked at Jayden for a moment. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, really". Said Jayden holding his hands tightly together under the table.

Lelle's brow creased with concern. "Did you get any sleep last night? At all?" she asked.

Jayden shook his head.

"Did you want to get back to the hotel? I can get the results and catch up with you later..." started Lelle.

"No. No, thank you." said Jayden quickly. "I, er, would you excuse me."

Jayden started to head off towards the wash rooms as Lelle looked concerned after him. Closing the cubicle door behind him Jayden sat looking at the blue vial. His knuckles were white with the strain. Just once, and your mind can rest he told himself. Just once and you can have a few minutes peace. He took another deep breath. No. No. You haven't worked this hard to get over this to fall back on the needle now. But he hadn't felt like this in so long. His mind felt like it was breaking, super-heating with the thoughts that were firing off one another, ricocheting off his skull. His unsteady hands unstoppered the vial and he held it in front of him. Closing his eyes he passed the vial under his nose.

Breakfast arrived at the table and Jayden had still not come back from the wash room. Lelle shrugged mentally and started eating. After a few moments Jayden sat opposite her. He seemed even more tired than he had moments before, like relaxation had taken hold of his body. Lelle pointed with her fork towards his plate.

"Your food is going cold."

Jayden looked down at his plate and pulled the knife and fork towards him. Lelle's eyes grew wide as he managed to demolish the entire plate in almost moments. He sighed and looked out the window. Lelle ate her grits thoughtfully. He was different at the moment. He appeared not to notice anything. The waitress dropped a plate a moment ago that had made everyone but Jayden jump. It was like he hadn't even heard it. There was something else. She chewed thoughtfully. The body language. Normally Jayden was like a coiled spring, always assessing, calculating with those cold blue eyes. Now it was like he was looking at everything through fog. His shoulders drooped and his head rested heavily on his hands. Poor guy must be ready to drop off from sleep deprivation she thought. As she ate Jayden looked more and more alert. By the time it came to asking for the bill it seemed like he was back to his old self. Must have got his second wind she thought.

They walked back over to the station, dodging through the already busy street and just managing to get through the door as the rain started to fall heavily behind them. As they neared the office Captain Perry waylaid them.

"You two, can I see you in my office now?"

Jayden and Lelle exchanged glances and nodded. They walked through the thriving centre station to Perry's office and sat down. Perry took his seat behind the desk and massaged his temples as he spoke.

"So first I get woken up at some godforsaken hour in the morning first by you and then by Special Agent in Charge Murray because you want to keep the case open. Fine. I agree. Then I get in this morning and what do I see?"

"I have no idea sir". Said Jayden.

Perry sighed and pushed a newspaper towards them. "I know we couldn't have kept it under wraps forever, but seems the press got hold of the results from the lab before we did."

Jayden picked up the paper and read a few lines. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then silently handed it to Lelle. The headline covered the front page. 'The Sodden Joker', and just underneath that was written in slightly smaller text, 'A Killer is Loose in the City.' Lelle's eyes skipped down the page picking up phrases, 'Homeless die in the rain.....leaves a joker calling card......what are the police doing?....' She folded the paper up and put it on the Captains desk.

"Well I guess we have our results whatever way you slice it", said Lelle. Perry shot her a look and Jayden let a small grin creep for a second onto his lips.

"There will be an investigation as to the leak of information. Blake was assigned to that task, and Agent Jayden? He is pissed. Really pissed." Perry wiped his brow. "And I have lost one of my best men to this charade. Just make it worth my while." With that he waved them out of his office.


	7. Chapter 7

Firstly thank you so much for the reviews Before I started writing I never knew how much a review could really help give you momentum! Thank you!

Ch7

Sleep

Jayden closed the door behind him with a click. He looked towards the bed in his hotel room and let out a slow breath. Just a few more minutes and he could sleep. He just needed to sort a few more things out. Before he would allow himself sleep, he needed a direction, something that he could grasp onto and follow. Hanging his jacket on a hanger he then slid into the chair behind the bare desk overlooking the damp city. With a practised motion he put on the glasses and glove.

Okay, lets have a look at the evidence here , he pulled out the digital file from the ether. So we have the card itself.... , Jayden drew a complicated circle in the air, "analyse".

Lines of text ran past his vision, measuring everything from the size of the card to the chemical components of the ink that had been used. Within seconds the ARI provided him with a brief summary of it's conclusions.

"So we have nothing for the type of ink or paper, these types are used world over...no lead there." He scrolled through the text with a finger. "Ah, it seems that this card has the mark of a particular casino. The Golden Star Casino. Every single card has the same mark."

Jayden flicked these away to one side. He pulled a map from the air above him. "Geolocalize", he commanded. Immediately a number of red dots appeared on the maps where the murders had taken place. "The killer is somewhere in this vicinity. An area containing approximately One hundred and fifty thousand people." A frown crossed over his face. Not exactly narrowing it down there he thought.

Jayden pulled off the glasses and gritted his teeth. No more. He could already feel a headache coming on. It was worse when he'd had no sleep. He couldn't control the sheer volume of thoughts in his head. Taking off the glove he massaged his temples. His eyes were already bloodshot and his breathing had deepened. He lay himself on the bed trying to concentrate on his new lead, soothe his overheating thoughts. His thoughts turned to Lelle. She had been...a surprise. She was dedicated, had strong resolve and intelligence. An image of her bent over her work, a small frown of concentration on her features appeared in his head. Yes. She was...useful, he decided. Sleep took hold of him and he blissfully succumbed to it's embrace.

****

Lelle sat cross legged on the floor of her hotel room. She had been down to the local souvenir shop on the corner and had bought herself a map and some red markers. She was gonna do this the old fashioned way she thought. The only map they had was covered in odd bits of trivia and advertisements but it was the best they had.

She marked the locations of the murders in the red marker and looked at the map again. Didn't seem to be in any particular pattern or order, it was slightly too much too hope that it would be in the shape of a huge pentacle or something. All it gave her was a area of people that were so numerous it wouldn't narrow things down at all.

She stared at the map some more, there had to be something she could use here. She chewed the end of her red pen thoughtfully. Her eyes ran over different parts of the map. Murder one had happened just ...here. She circled it labelled it no:1. That was apparently next to the 'Lucky Fish Takeaway bar - Buy one get one free on Thursdays!' She connected it with a line to the next one. No:2. This one was next to a blown up piece of trivia 'Did you know that the hotel Garcia was once visited by President Nixon in 1970!'. Nothing. A line to number three then. Nothing but another piece of useless trivia, 'Where Sophia LaRue once spent the Christmas day in the soup kitchen feeding the homeless.' The word homeless jumped into Lelle's head. Hold the phone. There were five soup kitchens in the area of the murders. Each body was found within a 100 metre radius of each kitchen. Interesting. All the kitchens were from the same organisation, The Golden Star Kitchens. She felt an excited knot in her stomach, she had found a lead! Ha! Thank goodness for useless trivia. Not that she was ever, ever going to admit that is how she stumbled on the lead she thought.

She looked at her watch. Jayden had told her to meet him about now, and she actually had something to share with him. A sneaky thought entered her head and tried to trip her up. 'Are you pleased that you found a lead for the case because it will help save lives, or do you just want to please him?' She blinked at the sudden entrance of this thought in her head. Save lives of course! She scolded her inner voice. 'Are you sure?' it persisted. Yes. Yes, she thought firmly, if Jayden was pleased, well, that was a bonus wasn't it? The treacherous voice stayed silent but she had the feeling that it was watching her smugly. She went out into the hotel hall and knocked on Jayden's door.

Jayden answered, looking much better for the sleep he'd obviously had. She smiled at herself just about to tell him she had a lead when he cut her off.

"Are you bleeding?" said Jayden, worry on his face. "What happened?"

"I, er....what?" said Lelle. "I'm bleeding?!"

Jayden looked confused for a moment, "Take a look", he said pointing to the bathroom.

Lelle scampered past him into the bathroom and squeaked as she saw herself in the mirror. The red pen that she had been chewing had leaked all over her lips and chin. She rest her head against the mirror. Oh god, I look like such a tool.

"You okay?" called Jayden from the room.

"Er, yes...I ...um." She took stock of herself. "There appears to have been some face pen interaction at some point and when I come out the bathroom you're not allowed to mention it ever again." Shouted Lelle back at him.

There was a pause followed by a quick snort of laughter from the hotel room. "Sure, sure I promise."

Lelle cleaned the ink off quickly and red faced shuffled back into the hotel room. Jayden had a hint of amusement in his eyes, but true to his word didn't mention it any further. To hide her embarrassment Lelle started talking.

"Well I've been doing a bit of the basics, and the localities of the murders would have such a wide comfort zone for the killer we can't narrow it down from there."

"Indeed. Approx one hundred and fifty thousand people", said Jayden.

"Well I didn't know how many, but I knew it would be lots", said Lelle. "So I sort of looked at things that were adjacent to the locations, and there appears to a group of soup kitchens that are near to each murder, we could possibly go and check them out", said Lelle.

Jayden nodded but added, "It may be worth checking out, but will probably yield no results, homeless people going to a soup kitchen isn't exactly unheard of."

Lelle deflated a little. "Yeah, you're probably right. Maybe if we run out of other leads we can check out The Golden Star Kitchens, but until then if we...", Lelle stopped as Jayden's head snapped up at the mention of Golden Star Kitchens, his eyes narrowed.

"Golden Star Kitchens, you're sure?" He asked.

Lelle nodded, "Well as sure as someone can be without actually having visited the place why, does that mean something to you?"

"The joker cards, all bear the mark of The Golden Star Casino. This is a little bit too much of a coincidence."

Lelle looked into Jayden's pale eyes and he looked into hers. "So we have our lead?" she said.

Jayden inclined his head. "It would certainly appear that way."


	8. Chapter 8

Okay so after last chapters little trivia I found out a little piece of my own trivia. So it turns out that the guy who played Norman Jayden went to the same college as me a few years before me and was brought up in the same tiny fishing village that my best friend used to live in while I was at that college. I wonder if we had the same theatre studies teacher...small world :)

Ch 8 The Golden Star

It was already raining hard when they arrived at the casino. The bright lights reflected off the black of the hood of the car and Lelle blinked in it's glare. The front of the casino was covered in towering Greek pillars, gaudy red and gold drapes and carpets like an old fashioned burlesque show house. A huge fountain almost masked the sound of the rain falling, the reflection from the lights making it look like the fountain was cascading gold. Jayden gestured toward the entrance and they went inside. The inside was the same as the exterior. This is bordering on the tacky side thought Lelle. As they were both taking in the surroundings a young man approached them. He looked at their clearly inappropriate attire and sneered at them.

"Members only I'm afraid", he said gesturing back to the door.

Jayden didn't even look at him, instead looking into the large ballroom that housed most of the casino. He held his badge up into the smarmy young man's face.

"Jayden, FBI, who owns this establishment?" he said as he turned to face him.

The colour drained from the smarmy man's face as he clearly mentally changed gear. "Er, Mr Price is the proprietor." The young man sought a way of his predicament, "Would you like to see him?"

"Hopefully we won't take up too much of his time", said Lelle.

"Follow me please."

They were led through the casino with all the rich and the beautiful finding ways to loose their money, men in suits and women in cocktail dresses laughing and talking. The young man reached a cordoned area and asked them to wait where they were. Lelle strained to hear but could only make out murmurings. Eventually a sharply dressed man in a back tuxedo appeared from around the corner. His smiled widely at them, his white teeth showing up against his tanned skin. He was younger than Lelle had been expecting, only in his forties she guessed and his handsome face looked to have traces of Italian in his dark features. He held out his hands.

"Welcome, welcome to my humble casino! I hope you have been treated appropriately?" He looked back towards the smarmy young man who had a mild look of panic across his face.

"Perfectly." Said Jayden smoothly. The young man breathed out.

"Well as you probably know, I am Mr Adrian Price, proprietor of the Golden Star, and..." he held out his hand to Jayden.

"Agent Norman Jayden with the FBI." Said Jayden shaking his hand.

"Charmed, and but my, we certainly have left the best to last haven't we?" Said Price smiling at Lelle. "And the loveliest." He said as he kissed Lelle's hand.

Lelle blushed. She had never been spoken to like that before! What a charming man! Jayden grimaced at the obvious slimy flattery. While Lelle was at a loss for words he continued.

"Mr Price, are you familiar at all with the case of the Sodden Joker?"

"Of course, I keep up to date with all local news, and this one was hard to miss", he said the faint smile never leaving his face.

"We are the officers investigating the case, and there has been a certain piece of evidence that has come to light that implicates the Golden Star in some way."

Price raised a hand, "are you saying I'm involved in this somehow?"

"Not at all, we just need you to answer a few questions." said Jayden, his pale blue eyes calmly looking into Price's dark eyes. Price looked away first. He gestured to the large area behind him.

"Then please, have a seat, may I get you a drink?"

"No thank you", said Jayden. Lelle shook her head. They sat on the large comfortable sofa in Price's VIP area. Price sat opposite them in an armchair and poured himself a drink from a decanter.

"In short the Joker cards from the victims have all had a mark from this casino. At this time we are not accusing anybody of anything." Jayden templed his fingers. "I understand that there are a great many people that have access to these cards. We need you to release details of all members of the casino, and also all the details of your staff."

Price took a swig of his drink, "Why of course! I will send all the details to you as soon as I possibly can." said Price smoothly.

Lelle leaned forward in her chair, "Perhaps you could also shed some light as to why there is also a soup kitchen that is called the Golden Star?"

Price's smile widened again. "And the voice of an angel too. Where have you been hiding? You have such a wonderful accent." He said looking at Lelle's widening eyes.

Jayden sighed. "Just answer the question please Mr Price."

Price's eyes lingered for a moment on Lelle before he turned to Jayden. "Because the soup kitchens were set up by myself, I own them. One can not say that I am not charitable." He smiled smoothly at Jayden. Jayden looked back, unblinking. "And maybe a little pressure from the PR team, give the casino the right image. If you wanted to know more about that, talk to Albert. He works the kitchens now, I'll send you his details along with everything else."

Price yawned, "And now you must excuse me, I am quite a busy man, so if there was anything else?..."

Jayden and Lelle stood up. "No, thank you for your time." Said Jayden.

As Price walked them out of the cordoned area he turned to Lelle. "You never told me your name." he smiled.

"Lelle, Lelle Hillier." she said, and couldn't help but smile back.

"As I suspected, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. You simply must come and visit again out of work, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy yes?"

Lelle was about to answer when she felt Jayden's hand at the small of her back gently pushing her forward towards the exit.

"Goodbye, Mr Price." said Jayden darkly. As he walked them quickly to the exit. Mr Price stood at the cordon until they were out of sight.

Lelle and Jayden got into the car, and immediately Lelle could sense that Jayden was annoyed. His body was rigid and his movements were a little forceful. They sat in silence as he drove back. She thought back to the casino. Had she said something wrong? She gloomily looked out the window as she traced the conversations back in her mind trying to think what would make Jayden annoyed with her. She sighed and continued to stare.

Jayden was annoyed. He tried to regain his composure. He was mostly annoyed that he wasn't sure why he was annoyed. That slimy Price had been no worse that many people he had come across. There was something different about this scenario. The way he was letching onto Lelle, and how she seemed to enjoy it. He just didn't like it. The windscreen wipers squeaked as he stared through the rain.


End file.
